Mission: Impossible
by Tori Lynn Leblanc
Summary: Souji and Yosuke are together at last, and they now want to give Kanji the happiness he deserves for all his help. Easier said than done! The one and only thing that Kanji wants might just be an impossibility... Souji/Yosuke; Kanji/Teddie; Chie/Yukiko.
1. Chapter 1

**Why hello! This is Mission: Impossible, the long-awaited sequel to my fic "Kiss Me." I'm very excited to finally get this out, as I began writing this chapter around Christmas and it just now is being finished! This fanfic will (hopefully) have a lot more going on at any given point. The pairings for this fic are Souji/Yosuke, Kanji/Teddie, and Chie/Yukiko, but the first will probably dominate since it's Souji's POV. Also, if you haven't read "Kiss Me," it might be hard to know what they are talking about a lot of the time... so you might wanna read it if you haven't. Don't forget to review when you're done! And, without further ado, here it is!**

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><p>"Oh god, Souji! Harder!"<p>

Without any regard what-so-ever for remaining quiet, I complied with Yosuke's wishes, increasing the speed at which I thrust into him. It had been about a month since the day Yosuke and I had made up, and we hadn't wasted any time getting close. It had been quite a busy month, though; Yosuke had missed months of school, but decided not to make them up immediately. Instead, he decided he wanted to join the detective force with Dojima. Currently, he was more of an apprentice than anything, but he could move up the ranks in time. Besides, Dojima had been looking for a lackey ever since he lost Adachi.

Speaking of Dojima, I had just recently moved out of his place… finally. I found my own little one-bedroom apartment nearer to town, and I was working as a daycare assistant part-time. Being around screaming brats for four hours a day definitely wasn't my idea of a dream job, but it was enough to maintain my less-than-glamorous life and pay the rent for my tiny residence.

That tiny residence was exactly where Yosuke and I were. To be specific, we were atop my mattress—our clothes were uninvolved. One of the perks of having my own place? Definitely, without a doubt, the freedom to fuck whenever we please. Of course, I'd tried a million and three times to get Yosuke to move in with me, but his parents just wouldn't go for it… even if he _was_ a legal adult. They made claims that it was too soon after the accident. I was completely convinced that they were just homophobes, although Yosuke said they never did anything else to suggest such.

"I'm going to come!" my boyfriend moaned, and I smirked as his muscles clenched tight around me. Less than two seconds after him, I came inside him, breathing his name lightly, and soon pulling out to collapse onto the bed next to him.

"You know, if you keep making those kinds of noises every time I fuck you, you'll get me kicked out of my apartment." I smiled at Yosuke playfully as I pulled a blanket over us.

He hit me lightly with his hand. "It's your fault," he rebutted. "Besides you aren't exactly a mute when we're at it."

Imitating his voice, I feigned pleasure and moaned, "Oh, Souji! Harder!"

Yosuke just shook his head and closed his eyes. It was sometime past eleven at night, and it had been a long day. I smiled and reached over to turn off the lamp, and once the light had gone, I snuggled in close to my boyfriend's figure and drifted off.

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><p>That night, while I was asleep, my dreams should've consisted of nothing but happy. However, a strange dream played through my mind. I was holding hands with Yosuke while we were at a theme park of some sort. There were rides and games and all sorts of carnival-type amusements. Yosuke and I found a certain game making odd noises, and when we got closer we saw that Kanji was there, and he was using some sort of toy gun to shoot at something in the game. I glanced over to see what my friend was shooting at, exactly, to see that they were small wooden cutouts. They traveled from one end of the game to the other and ducked out of the way of the gunshots—small pink hearts appeared to be the ammunition. Every few shots a cutout would fall. When I looked closer at the cutouts, I noticed that they all seemed to be people we knew. Kanji shot at each one over and over again until they were all mowed over, and Yosuke andI had been watching the whole time like it was perfectly normal. Then suddenly, one more cutout popped up from behind a barrel and Kanji, caught completely off-guard, took aim at the two-dimensional painted character. I couldn't exactly make out who this cutout was until it ran behind a prop and slowed down. It was Teddie. Kanji peered at his gun and loaded his last heart-bullet, and as soon as the <em>bang<em> from the gun sounded, I woke up.

My eyes popped open and the light streaming in from my window burned like hell. I made a move to bring my hand up to my face to rub my eyes until they were adjusted to the light, but something heavy and warm weighed me down. I smiled softly as I realized it was Yosuke that my arm was underneath, and I hoped my stirring didn't wake him up.

He wriggled around a little under the covers and turned over from his back onto his side, squishing my arm in quite the uncomfortable position. I groaned lightly and moved to pull my arm out from under Yosuke, regardless of the risk of waking him up. When I finally got my arm back, my boyfriend appeared to be awakening.

"Sorry," I said softly, leaning over to kiss the side of his face lightly. "Didn't mean to wake you. You were squishing my arm."

He laughed lightly, his voice groggy from not talking for eight hours. "It's okay," he said with a smile as he sat himself up, and I accompanied him.

"I have work today," I announced, my voice already tired. "In two hours." It was almost eight, and I wished I didn't have to waste four hours of the day babysitting a bunch of little kids.

"Till two?" he asked me, getting out of the bed sluggishly and beginning to pull on his boxers. All our clothes from the previous night were lying carelessly on the floor for obvious reasons.

"Yeah," I sighed, stretching for a few seconds before following suit and throwing on my boxers and a pair of pajama pants. I wasn't going to bother with a shirt; I'd be taking a shower pretty soon anyway.

"Do you wanna go somewhere today?" Yosuke asked, and I turned to look at him just in time to see his eyes snap up from my exposed torso to my eyes.

I couldn't help but smirk a little. "Like where?"

Blushing now and pouting at me, he just turned away and began pulling on his T-shirt. When he was standing up straight once again, I crept up behind him and wrapped my arms around his stomach, resting my chin on his shoulder. He tensed up for a moment before relaxing in my arms and I couldn't prevent a wave of affection from washing over me as he melted back.

"I love you," I told him softly, and I meant it. After all we'd been through, being able to tell him this confidently and gently to receive a response was beyond imagination, yet so wonderfully real.

"I love you, too," he replied, and I could hear the light smile in his voice.

Now feeling warm, I kissed the side of Yosuke's neck. "Where is it you wanted to go?" I asked.

"I… don't remember anymore," he laughed, his face flushed deeply. At this point, I'd completely forgotten about the odd dream I'd had.

"It'll come back to you," I said, making no moves to leave my position. "In the meantime… do you want to take a shower?" I knew Yosuke'd have to go home soon, but I was sure he could spare a little while for some fun.

"…With you?" he asked me, turning his head a little so he could look me in the eyes.

"Well, it wouldn't be much fun all by myself," I said, my tone very playful. I knew he'd give in.

"I guess I don't have a choice, then," he chuckled, trying to seem manly or something, but his face was still very clearly red. He turned around in my arms and I kissed him softly for a few moments before pulling back to see his dazed face. "Sh…shower, right."

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><p>"I'm coming in," I said loudly, practically singing the words as I stripped to join Yosuke in the shower. He'd entered five minutes earlier, wanting to wash his hair before I got in. He said he knew he'd never get anything done once I was in there with him, and I informed him that he was most definitely correct.<p>

I pulled part of the shower curtain out of my way to poke my head inside. Yosuke had his head leaned back as suds rinsed from his honey-colored hair, the hot water streaming down his body and creating quite the alluring display. His eyes were closed lightly as to not get any water in them, and as he opened them to look at me challengingly, he had no idea what he was getting himself into—not just for the next half hour, but for forever. When he looked at me like that, I knew that he'd never be able to escape my thoughts.

He smiled at me, still utterly clueless, and I smiled back as I stepped into the shower completely. Already in close proximity, I leaned into him and pressed my lips against his. The hot water covered me and I could feel the steam surrounding me, but the dominating sensation was the spark I got from Yosuke's kiss.

A few seconds more of kissing and I pulled our mouths apart, licking his lower lip before pulling away completely and I grabbed eagerly at his cock, which was already hard. His face looked absolutely tortured as I stroked him lightly up and down and he got even harder.

"S…Souji, please…" he groaned, and I knew I could get away with anything in that moment. I went for simplicity, however.

"Want me to suck you off?" I asked him, leaning in, my voice a sensual whisper against his ear. He shuddered and nodded, and I smiled deviously before dropping down onto my knees and inspecting him closely. I stroked him more, and he sighed.

"Mm… Souji…" he breathed, and my ears craved even more of his voice in rapturous pleasure.

Letting my right hand hold the base of his dick, I leaned in and licked tentatively at the tip a few times before I took the head in my mouth, suckling lightly, like a baby on a bottle. I felt him twitch inside me and I felt so satisfied with the simple ways I could make him squirm. I took in a little more and a little more, and then reached up to grab his hands, which I placed on the back of my head so he could guide me himself.

"Oh, god…" Yosuke groaned as he pushed my head gently toward him, and I opened up my throat to take more of him. I bobbed my head shallowly for a few moments before I pulled back a little, trying not to gag myself.

It didn't take me long to finish him off and he came in my mouth with a delicious moan. I swallowed what he so graciously gave me and stood back up, hard from my boyfriend's noises and soaking wet from the shower. I leaned into his mouth and kissed him aggressively, showing him that I wasn't done yet. He kissed me back with just as much fervor as his hands slithered down my slippery figure and he grabbed onto my dick, tugging gently and stroking at me teasingly. I assumed dominance in our kiss and our tongues wrestled almost violently; I wasn't fucking around, and he knew it.

Pulling our mouths apart with a loud 'pop' I gave him a look that told him to simply get on his knees. He obeyed my fierce look and smiled deviously before he got down onto his knees and quickly took me in his mouth. And I was lost somewhere in heaven.

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><p>Yosuke, able to trump me in one way, was able to drive while I wasn't. He wasted no time after his recovery getting a driver's license. Not to say I couldn't operate a car, but I couldn't afford one. Yosuke's parents bought him one: a sport red SUV that suited him nearly perfectly. And it had a nice roomy back seat… always a bonus, for obvious reasons. We often took advantage of that.<p>

I stretched my arms out lazily as Yosuke approached me driving, the passenger door stopping right in front of me. I opened up the door and climbed inside carefully.

"Hey," I said, a bright smile on my face as I buckled up and shut the door. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"It's not really a secret," he laughed as we pulled out of the parking lot of the daycare and onto the street toward town. "I just wanted to see if we'd be able to go before I said anything."

"Whatever," I said with a chuckle. We were now close to the textiles shop, and I became more curious. "Are we going to make a quilt?" I joked.

"Gee, how did you know?" Yosuke asked me sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "No, we're going to the beach."

"Just you and me?" I asked him curiously, assuming Kanji would be going if we were going to the textiles shop. But I was delightedly surprised by the short-notice trip and I wore a grin as I thought about how long it'd been since I was at the beach.

"No; it's me, you, Kanji, Teddie, and the girls."

I was quiet for a moment. "Chie, too?" I asked quietly. For obvious reasons, things had gotten considerably awkward between Chie and me since the drama at the hospital. She was plenty polite, but I could tell she was still hurt, and I felt bad.

"Rise said she'd try and get her to come, but I don't know if she will," Yosuke said, and I knew he was thinking the exact same thing as me. "Anyway, we're picking Kanji up first. Then everybody else should be at Rise's place waiting."

"Alright," I said, smiling lightly and looking forward to an afternoon with my friends. We'd been separated by Yosuke's accident and Yukiko's running away and all the commotion surrounding both events, and it would be nice to have some time to get to know each other again.

I sighed and let my head fall onto Yosuke's shoulder peacefully. Even if it was possibly only temporary, life was good. I almost dozed off until I heard the back door open and Kanji threw in a bag before climbing inside.

"Hey, you guys!" he said, smiling brightly, clearly as excited as we were about going to the beach.

"Hey, Kanji," said Yosuke, and I lazily brought my head away from my boyfriend's shoulder.

"Hi, Kanji," I greeted. I looked back to where he'd strapped himself in and I waggled my eyebrows at him suggestively. "So, are you excited to spend the afternoon ogling Teddie in a bathing suit?"

Our friend flushed red as soon as I mentioned the "T" word, and I laughed. Yosuke chuckled softly too as Kanji folded his arms across his chest.

"I didn't think of it like that until you said something…" he mumbled, and I just laughed more.

"It's my job to say something," I reminded him. "You hired us to hook you up. Remember?"

His blush deepened. "I didn't hire you!" he exclaimed accusingly. "You volunteered yourselves!"

"Actually, _Souji_ volunteered us," Yosuke corrected.

"Just don't worry about it," I told Kanji, waving my hand dismissively. "Have fun today. We'll take care of the hard part."

I heard Yosuke take a deep breath, and I knew the same thing was running through his mind as was mine:

This was going to be an impossible mission.

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><p><strong>I hope you liked the beginning! As I'm sure you've detected, this fic is rated M for good reason. I wanted to make it more exciting and fast-paced than Kiss Me, so I hope I do a good job! Tell me how you liked the first chapter; review!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**It's been soooo long! I'm so sorry, guys. It's really hard to find the time to write fanfiction in between school, show choir, work, and homework. But I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway. Even though it's far overdue.**

**Also, fun fact about the date on the text message. That wasn't a random date I pulled out of my ass. It was carefully calculated based on P4's date of start and end and the sequences of Kiss Me. Also, while calculating the date for the text message, I also discovered that Souji and his class graduate the same year that I do (2013)! Nifty, right? So we're the same age. Anyway, yeah. Hope you like it! Don't forget to review when you're done!**

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><p>So we picked everybody up and drove all the way to the beach in Yosuke's SUV. Chie didn't end up going, but I can't say I was surprised. The whole ride there, I peeked into the back seats and silently watched Kanji sneak glances at Teddie, who sat in the seat next to his. It was a little sad to watch the two of them and think of how impossible this was going to be; I couldn't help but feel terrible imagining what it would be like if (or when) Yosuke and I failed. I leaned over and rested my head on my boyfriend's shoulder as he drove, sighing and getting my fill of a clear head while I still could.<p>

Eventually we made it to the beach and we all scrambled out of the vehicle, excited and giddy because of the beautiful August weather, and we all lugged our beach bags and chairs down the beach until we found the spot we liked best. We set up our umbrellas quickly and took a look around, feeling pretty elated by the fact that there were hardly any people there besides us; we had practically an entire beach to ourselves. Rise and Naoto insisted that they didn't want to splash around in the water very much and Rise laid out her orange striped beach towel in the sand immediately with the intention of sunbathing. Naoto, clad in a loose-fitting T-shirt and cargo shorts, just sat down right in the sand under an umbrella and said nothing, instead pulling out a book.

"Will someone put tanning oil on my back for me?" Rise cooed as she lay on her stomach and untied her bikini top, letting the strings fall to her side.

I felt myself begin to panic as soon as I saw Teddie perk up and look in Rise's direction and I grabbed the little blonde boy by the arm and dragged him away from the mostly-naked temptress. I found myself about to be angry with Rise, but she didn't know why we were there; she didn't know that she was about to steal Teddie from Kanji. I shot Yosuke—who was right by my side—a look as I tried to lead Teddie toward the water.

"C'mon, Teddie," I said with a smile. "Let's go test the water!"

Teddie pouted. "Oh, but! I wanted to rub Rise with that oily stuff!" Yosuke laughed immediately and I almost leaned over to punch him. I didn't need him ruining my daring rescue.

I could already see Kanji sitting disappointedly on a towel under his umbrella and looking rather put off, and at that one moment of distraction Teddie slipped from my grasp and ran quickly to Rise. He grabbed the bottle of tanning oil and squeezed some onto his fingers, massaging it into Rise's skin next.

"That feels goooood, Teddie," she purred, and Kanji fell backward onto his towel. Yosuke and I looked at each other for a moment, our eyes telling the other that _maybe_ this would be harder than we thought, and we both approached our friend and sat on either side.

"Oh, yeah," Kanji said sarcastically as he turned his head to look up at me. "_Clearly_ he's not straight. Only a gay man would run oil onto a hot model like Rise and be so _clearly miserable._" We were far enough from the model and her personal masseur that neither of them could hear Kanji's critical satire, and good thing, too. Yosuke and I both looked over to where Teddie and Rise sat and cringed; Teddie looked positively ecstatic to be touching Rise in such a way. I groaned quietly.

"This isn't going to be easy," I reminded him, turning my attention back to Kanji. He sat up and stared down into his lap.

"I know that," he said quietly, his voice small. "But it's not a game for me. This is my life."

Yosuke nodded, breathing slowly. "Yeah…" he said. "I totally understand."

"A game…" I breathed, trying to remember why 'not a game' had stood out in my mind so much when Kanji'd said it. Then I remembered my dream from the previous night and lit up. "Oh, I had a dream last night," I said after a few moments. "It actually _was_ a game, Kanji. Like a carnival game."

I went into further detail about my dream, including the last part where Kanji loaded up his last heart bullet and the sound of the gun woke me up. Both of the men I sat with stared at me blankly.

"I think that pretty much sums it up," Yosuke said with a laugh after five or six seconds of staring, and Kanji laughed as well.

"Yeah, I'd have to say it does," he agreed, clearly now in a slightly better mood than before.

"So, what do you guys say to finally testing out that water?" I asked, beginning to rise from my spot in the sand. "It's not super hot outside, but the water shouldn't be _too_ cold. It's summer."

"Sure, let's go," Kanji said with a smile as he and Yosuke stood up as well. I threw off my T-shirt to remain just in my swim trunks and Kanji and my boyfriend both followed suit shortly before following me to step carefully into where the tide was rolling in gently.

Kanji took a few more steps until he was out to his knees, the sparkling ocean water surrounding him quickly. "It's not too cold," he said as he bent over and splashed some water to where I stood next to Yosuke, just up to our ankles.

"Maybe not for you," Yosuke chuckled as he splashed back.

"Swimming!" came a voice suddenly from behind us. "I want to swim, too!" And suddenly Teddie came running and stomping into the water, splashing water on Yosuke's and my legs as he went by, and he joined Kanji in the deeper water, going out even further, up to his waist. "Come on, Kanji! I bet I'll win in a splash fight!"

I watched as Kanji's face flushed slightly, unable to stop myself from smiling like an idiot as our friend happily complied. I took a step toward Yosuke and slid my hand into his casually.

"Maybe this won't be so hard," I said softly into his ear, and he gave me a gentle smile in return.

"Are you kidding? _I'm_ going to win!" Kanji returned as he waded out to follow Teddie and splashed him with a giant wave of the salty seawater.

"Hey! No fair, you got a head start!" the bear-boy whined as he rebutted with a large quantity of water as well sent straight toward Kanji's figure.

"You're just afraid I'm going to beat you!"

And for a moment, I felt hopeful.

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><p>I had to work early in the morning the next day, a shift from six until ten, so Yosuke just dropped me off at my apartment when we were done at the beach and he went home. It was admittedly lonely without him there, so when I got back after such a long day all I wanted to do was sleep.<p>

I was lying in my bed just minutes from falling asleep and sending my last goodnight texts to Yosuke.

"_Hey, I had fun today. :) Thanks for taking me_,"I told him, and a minute later he replied, "_I had fun too. You don't need to thank me. (:"_

I flipped open my phone to reply and typed, _"Still, it was fun. Anyway, I'm about to go to sleep. I have to work at 6 tomorrow. :/"_

Pressing the send button, I gripped my phone in my hand and leaned back against my pillow, letting my eyes fall shut and I dozed off for a moment before I felt my phone vibrate with a reply.

"_Sleep well, then. I love you. 3"_

I smiled and replied only with, _"I love you too."_

And I laid back into my bed after placing my phone on my bedside desk, pulling up the covers and stretching before letting sleep take me.

I awoke a few hours later when I heard my phone buzz again, and my first thought was that it was Yosuke; something was wrong. I immediately threw off my covers and reached over to the device, throwing it open as quickly as I could to read the message.

When I saw who it was from, I was surprised at once—but when the message opened and loaded, I could only stare at the screen.

_From: Chie Satonaka  
>Received: Tue August 27, 2013 2:17AM<em>

_Yukiko's back._


	3. Chapter 3

**I've been wanting to write Yukiko's return for quite a while, so here it is! Also, I'm going to post a "works-in-progress" list in the bio on my profile so everyone can see the stuff I'm currently working on. I'll update it as often as possible so you know what's coming. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review! This story isn't getting nearly as much traffic as Kiss Me did, which is a little depressing.**

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><p>My mind raced when I read the message that lit up my cell phone screen and my dark room. "<em>Yukiko's back.<em>" I immediately picked up the device and pressed call on Chie's name, putting it up to my ear only to hear the beeping that signaled that the line was busy.

"_Call me_," I texted her, but got no reply, even after a few moments. I grumbled impatiently and called again—still busy. So I instead dialed Yosuke's cell phone number and pressed call.

"Hey," Yosuke said when he picked up. He sounded tired but awake, as if he'd already been up.

"Did Chie text you?" I asked quickly, skipping the greeting out of urgency.

"Yeah. I assume she texted you, too, then." He cleared his throat.

"Have you called her yet?"

"Not yet. How about you?"

"Yeah, but her line's busy," I said.

"What should we do?" he asked, and I thought for a moment. Suddenly, though, a _ping_ indicated that I got a text message and I checked to see if it was from Chie. It was.

"Hold on," I said as I opened thetext while still on the phone, careful not to accidentally hang up on my boyfriend. It read, _"Your line's busy."_ I quickly typed back, _"Where are you?"_

"She just texted me," I said as I returned to my phone call.

"What'd she say?" Yosuke asked curiously.

"That my line is busy."

Yosuke laughed. "Should I let you go, then?"

"No," I told him. "You need to stay in the loop, too." My phone _ping_ed again and I opened it. "She texted back. Hang on."

"_We're at my place,"_ said the message, and I tapped the keys to type, _"We'll be there in fifteen minutes. Me and Yosuke."_

"Can you come pick me up?" I asked my boyfriend as I came back to the conversation with Yosuke. "We need to go see them. They're at Chie's place."

Yosuke paused. "Yeah. I'll leave in two minutes. Make sure you're ready."

I smiled even though he couldn't see it through the phone. "I will be. You're the greatest."

He just laughed. "See you in a few," he said, and he hung up.

I got out of bed quickly and threw on some clothes—the first ones I found—before I headed into my small living room to wait. My phone vibrated five minutes later and I pulled it from my pocket quickly. _"I'm here,"_ said the message from Yosuke and I jumped up, grabbing my wallet and house key and locking my place before heading outside. Yosuke sat with his engine running and I quickly got into the passenger side.

Leaning over to kiss him on the cheek I said, "This should be interesting," and Yosuke pulled out of the parking lot of my apartment complex and onto the road.

"I'm a little scared," he admitted softly after a few second, and I nodded.

"Me, too."

"I haven't seen Yukiko in, like, a year," he said, and I nodded again.

"I think I'm the reason she left," I laughed. "Talk about awkward." It really wasn't funny, though, even if it was true. Yukiko running away—combined with everything else that had happened up to that point—had almost completely torn our group apart.

"…I don't see how anyone could want to run away from being with you, he told me quietly, and I smiled; he really was the sweetest.

"I love you," I said softly as we came within distance of Chie's place. She still lived with her parents.

"I love you, too," he returned with a small smile, and he found a parking spot within moments and we got out. It was extremely dark and I grabbed his hand as we talked toward the light of the house, reaching the front door soon enough. I rang the doorbell and I could feel my heart racing.

Chie opened up the door. "It's _so_ late," she said quietly. "My parents are asleep. You two shouldn't have come." She paused. "But now that you're here… I mean, fuck it. It doesn't matter. Come in." She stepped aside and held the door for us. I stepped inside and Yosuke followed behind me, sliding his fingers from in between mine carefully and I breathed slowly. I was about to do that myself; it'd be courteous considering what I'd done to _both_ of the women I was about to sit in the same room with.

"Just keep quiet," she whispered, pretending not to notice that Yosuke and I had been holding hands. "She's in my room." She began walking down her hallway and we both slipped off our shoes in the entryway and followed Chie down her hall.

Chie didn't seem as hostile or upset toward me as she usual was, which was a relief, but I had to wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that it was a little after two-thirty in the morning and her best friend who had disappeared without a trace for several months had just returned. I wondered if she would go back to hating me after this.

"Yukiko?" she whispered as she opened her door quietly, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Chie stepped inside and we followed slowly, Yosuke shutting the door behind him extremely gently as not to wake Chie's somehow still-sleeping parents.

I turned toward where Yukiko sat on the bed, expecting her to look completely different from when she left. I expected her to have cut off all her hair and dyed it blonde—or something like that. But she looked the same. She had the same fair skin and her dark hair was still long; actually, maybe a little longer. When my eyes met hers she smiled softly at me.

"Hi, Souji," she said, her voice the exact same one she'd left with. She turned to Yosuke as well. "Hi, Yosuke." To my surprise, she stood up from her spot slowly and approached me slowly before encircling me in a hug with her thin arms. I hugged her back carefully, somewhat hesitant of how Yosuke would be feeling about it, but I didn't think Yosuke would be bitter. More than anything it was a relief to know that my friend was alive, okay, and still herself.

I pulled out of our hug after a few seconds and looked her up and down for a minute. "You haven't changed at all, Yukiko," I said with a laugh, and she laughed warmly as well and nodded. Yosuke was next and she hugged him in the same way. Yosuke hugged her back with a smile and I couldn't help but remember all the times in high school that he'd made it a point to talk about how much he'd kill to be able to speak to Yukiko Amagi.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Yosuke," she said, her voice muffled a little before she pulled away.

"You too," he said, and she nodded. She sat back down on Chie's bed, next to Chie, who had taken a seat there during our hugs. I sat down on one of Chie's beanbag chairs and Yosuke did the same. I couldn't help but think about how many times we'd taken for granted the opportunity to hang out like this.

Yukiko smiled shyly and took a deep breath. "I don't really know where to start," she admitted.

I watched her carefully, wondering if she'd told Chie anything yet. Probably, I guessed.

"Where did you go?" Yosuke asked gently.

Yukiko thought for a moment. "I went to the city," she said. "I stayed by myself in an apartment for a while and even got a job." She paused and breathed slowly, and Chie placed her hand on Yukiko's back. Yukiko gave her a small grin before turning back to us. "I was feeling really pressured," she told us softly. "School was stressing me out, and everyone kept on telling me what great things they expected from me. I'd take over the inn and be the most successful person in my family. And then there was… S-Souji." Instead of looking at me, she scanned Yosuke's face carefully.

Yosuke chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "I already know about what happened with you two."

Yukiko nodded. "That put a lot of stress on me, too," she said quietly, and she met my eyes. "I could tell you still loved Yosuke."

I felt myself flush a little bit. Awkward. "That's pretty intuitive of you," I said. "You were right." I could see Yosuke smiling in the corner of my eye, but I was a little worried about Chie. Fortunately, when I looked at her she seemed to be smiling as well.

"In short… those are the reasons I left," she concluded. "But I kind of realized that running away wasn't the way to fix things. I missed Inaba and my friends, so I decided to come back. I started packing this afternoon and left as soon as I was done. I got on the train. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go, so I came to Chie's. I'm not ready to go back to the inn."

"That's understandable," I agreed.

"I actually don't know if I _ever_ want to go back to the inn," she said quietly. "But I guess I can decide that later."

Yosuke nodded. "For now you should probably just focus on readjusting."

Yukiko agreed and thought for a moment. "I want to see everyone else," she announced after a few moments. "Can we get together and do something soon?"

"We went to the beach earlier today," Yosuke said with a chuckle. "You just missed it."

"Yeah," I said, "but Chie didn't go either. It would be fun to get together with everyone else and just hang out. It would be like the old days again."

Chie spoke up and she looked quite happy, which was more than I could say about her for the last few months. "We could go on vacation," she suggested. "A road trip, maybe. But not for a few days—Yukiko probably needs some time to get used to being in Inaba again before we shove off for someplace else."

Yukiko giggled. "Yeah," she concurred. She paused for a moment. "How about a cruise?"

"A cruise?" I asked. "That sounds pretty expensive."

"Well," she began, "since my family runs an inn, we're known by a lot of different tourist attractions and we get all kinds of free things. I don't think it would be that hard for me to get a free cruise with my friends."

"That sounds like so much fun," Chie said, her face lit up. "I've never been on a cruise before!"

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><p>Fifteen minutes later we hadn't run out of things to talk about, but Yukiko nearly dozed off mid-sentence, her head resting on Chie's shoulder serenely.<p>

"Yukiko, wake up," Chie laughed, shaking her a little. Yukiko blinked and removed her head from Chie's shoulder looking confused. "If you're tired, we can go to bed."

"Yeah," I agreed, "maybe you two should get some rest."

Yosuke nodded. "And Souji's working at six in the morning."

I stood up and checked Chie's digital clock. Nearly three in the morning. "That's in three hours," I groaned, shaking my head as I reached my hand out to help Yosuke up. He grabbed my hand and stood up.

"Good luck," Chie laughed, and she rose to see us to the door. Yukiko got up as well and followed us, and we all four stood in the entryway.

"I'm really glad you're back, Yukiko," I said honestly, smiling at her genuinely. Chie looked at me sternly and put her finger to her lips.

Yukiko giggled softly and tiredly and nodded. "Me, too," she whispered. "Thanks."

"We'll see you soon," Yosuke whispered after he'd slipped on his shoes and was standing by the door. "Keep us updated on the cruise, of course."

"See you guys later," Yukiko said, her voice quiet and happy.

"Yeah, see you," Chie added, a smile on her face as well.

Yosuke opened up the door and held it open for me, and I slipped on my shoes quickly and stepped out. Yosuke followed me and Chie and Yukiko both waved as we walked off.

Yosuke drove me back to my apartment and walked me to my door. I had to laugh; it felt a little clichéd.

"A cruise sounds like fun," he said, waggling his eyebrows a little. "And romantic, too."

I put my hands on my waist and pecked him on the lips softly. "Definitely," I agreed. "It's also the perfect place to get you-know-who to fall in love with our good friend Kanji." Yosuke groaned and I laughed, leaning closer to kiss his neck softly.

"Souji…" he sighed as my touches led him to forget about the stress of Kanji and Teddie. "I'm not going to leave if you keep that up, and you need sleep."

I nodded slowly as I pulled back and let go of his waist. "I'll talk to you later," I told him as I reached behind me for my doorknob. "I'll text you when I'm done working."

"Alright, bye."

It didn't matter how much we saw each other; it was always hard to say goodbye to him. I jammed my key in the lock and twisted it until the door opened, and I heard Yosuke start to walk back to his SUV. I would get him to move in with me if I had to murder both his parents for it to happen. Fortunately, it probably wouldn't have to come to that.

I changed and lay in my bed, setting my alarm for five-thirty begrudgingly before letting sleep take my exhausted body and mind. Just over two hours of sleep wouldn't be enough. Hopefully I wouldn't end up strangling any of the kids at the daycare.

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><p><strong>Favorite, subscribe, and review if <strong>**you like this~! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! I know it's been forever, and I apologize for that. However, I've been somewhere beyond the realm of busy with my junior year. Thankfully, it's almost over, and it's getting a bit less hectic. I'll be updating more often now hopefully. Look forward to it! Don't forget to review!**

* * *

><p>It was a week before we actually got to go on the cruise Yukiko had offered, but man, was it worth the wait. During that week, Yukiko continued to stay with Chie, keeping her return relatively on the down-low. Apparently she had let her parents know she was back, but she didn't want to go back to the inn. I was trying to make it a point not to pry. Chie also told the rest of our friends about Yukiko's return, but Yosuke and I were still the only ones to have seen her. The true reunion would happen on the cruise.<p>

It was leaving on Wednesday morning. I woke up with the sun shining through the cracks in my blinds and was feeling pretty good that morning; I'd finished packing the night before—all the clothes and things I would need for the seven-day adventure—and I was ready to go when Yosuke rang my doorbell at 7:00.

Tossing my toothbrush back into my cabinet, having just finished brushing my teeth, I practically skipped to my door and flung it open. "You excited?" I asked rhetorically as I pulled Yosuke inside my apartment.

"Seven days with you and the rest of my favorite people in the world?" he asked as he snaked his arms around my neck. "Nah."

"Good," I said. "Me either." I leaned in and pressed our lips together happily, kissing him with a smile for a few seconds before he pulled back. I pouted.

"Do you want the ship to leave without us?" Yosuke asked scornfully as he wriggled free of my grasp.

"No, sir," I said, imitating a child in trouble, and he rolled his eyes right before he spotted my bags in the corner and made his way to grab them for me. I followed him and when he picked up both of them I took one from him.

"We sail at eight," Yosuke said with a smile as I shut and locked my apartment door behind me. I couldn't remember ever having felt so excited.

We hopped into his SUV and he drove us to the place from which we'd be departing, unloading our bags and making sure that the vehicle was locked completely; it'd be sitting there on its own for a week. It was already 7:30—bright and sunny but still chilly—and we saw all of our friends waiting near the entrance to the beautiful cruise ship.

The ship was huge—this trip must be worth a fortune, I noted. It was incredible that Yukiko could pull so many strings, especially after being gone for so long. It was even bigger once we boarded. We joined up with our friends and hauled our luggage onto the vessel before we were directed to our rooms, and it was time to choose our roommates. That went pretty obviously since Yosuke and I weren't going to separate, and we also weren't about to let Kanji or Teddie room with anybody but each other. Chie called Yukiko's room, leaving Naoto and Rise to be in a room together as well.

Things were looking up: how could Yosuke and I fail at getting Kanji and Teddie to hook up if they were sleeping in the same bedroom? The ship left the port at 8:00 sharp and my boyfriend and I spent most of the morning unpacking before coming out to spend breakfast with our friends. We sat at a big table in the dining hall, which was mostly empty, besides a few people sitting alone on other ends of the room. Most of the other people on the ship seemed to want to eat breakfast outside since the weather was so gorgeous, but we were perfectly content with being inside if we were one of the only parties around.

I sat between Yosuke and Kanji and we ordered from the menus, and while we were waiting to be served, one could almost taste the excitement in the air; as a team, we'd gone through lots together—especially in the last year—but nothing quite this exciting. After a few moments of elated silence, someone finally spoke.

"You guys are going to love this so much," said Yukiko with a smile. "I've been on this cruise before and there's really nothing like it." But now that we were all together for what was the first time in probably a year and a half, the questions started popping up.

Almost immediately, Kanji spoke up. "We missed you," he said, his tone of voice asking a million questions. I watched Yukiko's face fall clearly, and Chie, who sat next to her, placed her hand on her friend's back and rubbed gently.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I don't know what to say. I was just so stressed because of everything… I couldn't bear to stay in Inaba." Although I already knew the story, her words still made me feel guilty; I was a big part of her leaving.

"We're not mad," Rise assured, her voice gentle. "We were just worried about you."

Yukiko was silent, staring into her lap.

"We really aren't mad, Yuki-chan!" Teddie said, patting Yukiko on the shoulder. He beamed at her. "Don't feel bad."

"Yeah," Yosuke agreed. "We're just glad you're back."

Yukiko looked up, her eyes a little red. She'd started crying; she must've still been pretty rattled from her return. She smiled weakly. "Thanks," she said. "I'm glad I came back. I missed you guys." When Chie pulled her in for a hug, I couldn't help but smile and wonder why she was being so touchy. I also wondered if anybody else noticed.

It wasn't too long before they brought our food and we began our breakfast. I could tell that this trip was going to be amazing, and that was just from the food. The pancakes I'd ordered were somewhere beyond incredible.

An hour later, everyone was completely done eating and stuffed. It was closing in on noon and we weren't entirely sure how we should spend our first day, so we settled on relaxing by the pool nearest our rooms. After we all changed into our swimsuits, I laid down on a comfortable chair and Yosuke laid on the one next to it. I stretched out lazily and watched as Teddie jumped fearlessly into the water, some splashing onto me, and it made me shiver a little.

"No splashing," said Yosuke with a laugh as he brushed water off his legs and moved his chair into a sitting-up position. I adjusted my chair as well and scooted myself a little close to my boyfriend. Rise was lying on her stomach on her chair, flat like a bed, and Naoto was blushing lightly as she rubbed tanning oil onto the model's back. Rise's well-known orange bikini was untied. While Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, and I wore swim trunks, Yukiko was in a tank top and shorts and Chie was in a bikini less skimpy than Rise's. Rise's suntan lotion slave, meanwhile, was adorned in a loose-fitting T-shirt and swim trunk-like shorts. Even though she was stuck with a job, Naoto seemed to be having a good time.

Kanji chased Teddie into the pool and I watched him amusedly for a moment before I laid back a bit and relaxed in the sun. I could hear Kanji and Teddie chasing each other around in the water until I drifted off. It couldn't have been fifteen minutes later that I was woken up by a huge splash of water, and it drenched me all over. I heaved up in my seat and blinked quickly, using my arm to rub the water from my eyes and face before looking up to find my attacker.

I quickly identified that person as Chie, and I growled playfully as I noticed she'd gotten water all over Yosuke as well. Already cold from the water now, I got up quickly and jumped into the shallow end of the pool carefully. I splashed in Chie's direction violently and within moments I was joined by Yosuke who helped me.

"You've got a lot of nerve," Yosuke said with a smirk as he sent waves toward the other end of the pool.

"You splash like a little girl!" Chie yelled loudly to my boyfriend, and I couldn't help but laugh. It sounded exactly like the old days, when Chie and Yosuke were at each other's throats every day.

"You have boobs like one!" Yosuke yelled fiercely, and I cracked up laughing, ceasing my splashing. I felt like a second-year high school student again.

Chie growled dangerously and Yukiko ducked behind her, trying in vain to avoid the aquatic assault that Yosuke was sending at them.

"Feels like old times, huh?" I heard suddenly from behind me, and I turned around to see Kanji with a nostalgic smile. I couldn't help but agree, since he practically had read my mind.

"Yeah," I said with a chuckle and a nod. I noticed that Teddie was sitting on the edge of the pool looking pretty deep in thought—unusual for him. I nodded in the little blonde's direction. "How's you-know-who?" I asked with a smile.

"Pretty normal," Kanji sighed. "I don't know what to do besides chase him around and play games with him…"

I laughed. "It's Teddie we're talking about. I think that's all he's looking for in a partner," I joked, and that got a smile out of my friend.

"You're probably right," he agreed. Just then, Teddie seemed to burst from where he was sitting.

"I have an idea!" he announced loudly, and we all turned toward him. The splashing ceased, and Rise quickly retied her bikini top as she sat up to give her attention to the boy. "Let's play Marco Polo!"

Immediately, Kanji chimed in. "Sounds like fun!" he said, and I smiled. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying playtime with Teddie, even if it was, at the end of the day, pretty draining.

It didn't take much more convincing until we had Rise and Naoto both in the water with us and Teddie was nominated as "it" for being the one to come up with the idea in the first place. He complied and closed his eyes quickly, yelling, "Marco!" at the very top of his lungs.

Among the first to reply, "Polo!" was Kanji. Yosuke next, then me, Rise, Yukiko, Naoto, and lastly Chie. We laughed as we watched the poor little boy dash around the pool with his arms outstretched and soon enough he yelled out for us again. We replied and he laughed with sinister intent as he realized he was quite close to somebody based on the proximity of their voice. Unfortunately for me, that person was myself—but I was able to dive out of the way just in time to avoid his grasp and fall into the water. As a result, Teddie plunged forward and I heard a terrorized yell from behind me; apparently someone was caught.

I rose from the water, cold and wet now, and everyone turned to look at the victim. Teddie had his arms wrapped firmly around Kanji's torso and he was laughing maniacally, but I knew better where to place my eyes, as did Yosuke. Kanji's face was pink and he coughed lightly as he was released from his crush's grip.

"I gotcha, Kanji!" the bear declared, and Kanji laughed nervously.

"You sure did," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as his blush faded. "Does this mean I'm it?" Teddie nodded eagerly and our game continued.

We played for another half hour or so before it started to get repetitive—everyone had been "it" at least once and we were starting to cycle through again. At that point we decided to split up for the rest of the day and meet up again at dinner, so I grabbed Yosuke and we headed up to the café that sat on the top level of the ship. They were a bit more expensive, but the atmosphere was more private, so we ate lunch there and then headed back to the poolside. By that time it was mid-afternoon and the summer sun was blazing above us, so we weren't surprised to find Yukiko and Chie were at the pool once again themselves.

We greeted them with smiles and sat in chairs across the pool from them, and I made sure to scoot my chair right up next to my boyfriend's. We both laid down and relaxed, but I secretly couldn't help watching Chie and Yukiko—Chie had been acting strangely the entire day.

They were speaking quietly to each other so I couldn't understand them, but then I saw Yukiko smile and hand Chie a bottle of sunscreen and I knew what was about to happen. I had to refrain from making a noise. Chie was almost being… forward.

I watched the two of them as Chie rubbed the lotion onto Yukiko's shoulders and upper back and chuckled lightly to myself. Boy, did I have something to talk about with Chie.

It was a couple of hours later that we met up with all of our friends once again for dinner, and we returned to the dining hall at which we'd eaten breakfast earlier in the day. It was a bit more populated this time, but not crowded. We had plenty of privacy if we so wanted it. I made sure that I sat between Chie and Yosuke.

Right after we got our food, Yosuke turned away from me to listen to a story Kanji had to tell about something he and Teddie had done that day, and I seized the opportunity to lean in close to Chie.

At first, she gave me a surprised look, but she turned her head appropriately when she saw that I aimed to whisper something to her.

"What's up with you and Yukiko?" I asked her very quietly, and immediately she pulled her head away from me and gave me a stern look, her cheeks tinted red a little.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, but I knew she wasn't as stupid as her test scores might've indicated. I just gave her a look and she pretended to figure it out. "Oh… you mean the lotion?" she asked, and I just sighed. She leaned back in toward my ear. "I'll talk to you later, okay? Meet me on the deck before bed."

I raised an eyebrow at her, curious, but I turned to my food and focused on that instead. We both were quiet for the remainder of the meal, but before the two of us retreated to our respective rooms, I just had to talk to her.

I began walking with Yosuke to our room, stopping just outside our door, and Yosuke gave me a questioning look. "I have to talk to Chie for a couple minutes," I said, giving him a smile.

"What about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He still knew things to be a tad awkward between Chie and me.

"I'll tell you when I get back," I said, kissing him on the cheek quickly and slapping his ass playfully. "If you're still in clothes when I come back, you're in big trouble," I added jokingly as I backed away, and he just laughed as he disappeared behind the door. Turning around, I swiftly walked out to the deck where I saw Chie alone, leaning against the railing of the desk and watching the waves. I approached her slowly as not to startle her.

"Hey," I said, and she turned to me. She stayed quiet, so I went on. "Someone has some explaining to do."

Chie hesitated. "It's kind of a long story," she said, scratching her arm.

"We have all night if we need it," I reminded her.

She sighed. "So… you remember way back in second year?" she asked quietly, then looked around to make sure we didn't have any spies hanging around. As far as we could see on the desk, we were literally alone. I nodded. "Remember what I told you about back then?" she continued.

"You mean about Yukiko?" I asked for clarification, but I already knew.

"Yeah…" she said. "Well… I think I might still feel that way." Chie folded her arms, a light smile finding her lips. "It's kind of weird… but I sort of feel like her being gone made me realize just how important she was to me. I mean… there _was_ the time before when I was pretty determined to be her prince, but now it's deeper." She paused to breathe. "Yukiko's more mature now, and so am I. She keeps telling me how sorry she is for leaving, and how much she missed me, and it gives me butterflies every time."

I listened to her extremely carefully. "You're in love," I said, feeling as if I understood her perfectly. We'd been friends so long that I almost _could_ understand her perfectly, actually. It was nice to talk with her and not feel her sending me bad vibes the whole time.

"Being with you a while back made me realize it," she said with a slightly bitter laugh, and she turned to look at the moon. It was about half-full and very clear against the black sky. Stars hung gracefully in the sky around it. "I was looking for somebody to take the place of what Yukiko was for me: a best friend and someone I could love. Of course… with you, I took it a little farther." She shook her head, and I couldn't bring myself to comment on what she'd said. That was still what I would call forbidden conversation subject. "So when we broke up, it was only then that I realized how lonely I was. I just wanted Yukiko back."

I nodded slowly. "So… what are you going to do about it?" I asked carefully.

Chie laughed. "Good question," she said. "Probably tell her, I guess. But I don't really know how."

This time it was my turn to laugh. "Let me know if you need any help," I said. "Yosuke and I are already playing matchmaker this week." I shook my head at the ridiculousness; I still wasn't sure that we would be able to pull it off.

Chie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? Who?" she inquired curiously, a devilish grin curving onto her lips.

"You can't tell," I told her, sticking out my pinky and wiggling it in the air. I needed to _know_ she wouldn't say anything; this imperative.

"I won't," she promised as she took my pinky in her own and we shook hands.

Taking back my little finger, I said very softly, "Kanji likes Teddie."

Chie nearly squeaked in surprise, covering her mouth with her hand. "You're kidding!" she accused, removing her hand to reveal a scandalous smile. "That's fucking incredible! All that bathhouse shit suddenly makes sense!" She laughed.

"Shh!" I hissed, effectively quieting her, and I narrowed my eyes. "That is a _secret_."

Chie pretended to zip her lips shut and throw away the key, grinning the entire time.

"Now, go to bed," I told her playfully. "Yukiko's waiting for you."

"Sure," she said, her tone teasing. "Don't make too much noise with Yosuke tonight. If you guys wake us up, I'll knock out that loser's teeth, head injury or no."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't the nostalgic joy our exchange gave me. "Goodnight," I said with a half-mocking smile, and I waved my fingers at her as I turned.

"Yeah, 'night," she said. I could hear the same nostalgia in her voice.

It took me fifteen seconds of walking to get back to the room Yosuke and I shared, and I opened the door quietly, stepped inside, and shut it behind me as silently as I could manage. The room was completely dark, but I knew my boyfriend wouldn't be sleeping _this_ early. I adjusted the fader for the lights so it was about half-lit and could do nothing to prevent the smile than snaked onto my lips when I saw Yosuke, completely naked, on the bed in front of me. He propped up his head with his arm, and his free hand drew imaginary circles onto what appeared to be very soft linen.

I licked my lips; I hadn't been serious with what I told him earlier about being in trouble, but who was I to complain?

I just knew that this was going to be the best week of my life.


End file.
